Straight Talk

2 Samuel 12

Nathan Rebukes David

 ¹ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

 ⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

 ⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

 ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

 ¹¹ “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

 ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Lesson:

In these scriptures we find a “Revealing” of sin.  Surely David knew he had sinned.  The sin he had committed was extreme.  He had murdered a man to cover it up.  The thing that he didn’t completely understand though, was the evaluation or judgment of that sin.

      Now that the sin had been evaluated and he had decided how terrible it was in the eyes of the righteous, he began to repent.  He had send against the LORD.

       Last week we discussed “Straight Talk” in our Fusion Friday lesson.  This is what David did in his life.  There was some straight talk going on.  As we pray today, lets go in an shine God’s righteous light over our whole life.  We want to grow and be all that we can be in the body of Christ .

Memorize:

Jeremiah 29:11

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Prayer:

Lord I love and praise you.  I seek you today God.  I seek your wisdom and light in my life.  In all my wisdom, I am but a fool, but with your guidance, I would be led by Solomon’s teacher.

I ask you right now to draw our students to trust in your wisdom as we step out in faith, and give you all of ourselves for your kingdom’s glory. 

Thank you Jesus.  I love you Jesus.  Amen

Use It:

·        Pray over these lessons in your own life

·        Pray a minimum of 15 minutes daily

·        Read a minimum of a chapter a day

·        Fast a meal a week

·        Memorize the weekly scripture

·        Please comment below to show that you have read our blog and are with us in prayer.

Weekly Prayer Devotion (Jan 12, 2012)

"At that time, people began to call on the Name of the Lord"

 Through this new feature in Fusion Student Ministries, we want to encourage you to pray daily.  Since this is a devotion to unified prayer, I took our first steps into prayer's first steps, the beginning of the relationship between God and man.  In their innocence, Adam and Eve talked with God in the cool of the day.  It was simple, and without barriers.   We see an immediate change after their fall. 

Genesis 3:10-11 (NIV)

10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

God did not ask these questions because he didn’t know the answer.  No, he asked them to sort things out in the mind of Adam and as a lesson to us.  He does this with Cain after his failure in sacrifice.

Genesis 4:6 

6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

This is a warning to Cain that he is traveling down the wrong path. 

An impression had to be made upon man at this time. Adam and Eve birth a new son named Seth and it says in Genesis 4:26 “…At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD”.

Lesson Learned:

            Break the barriers.      

           Shame and guilt over past or present sin will become barriers in your communication with God.  Repentance is the answer and then faith in the grace and mercy of God.  We must believe that God loves us and that His promises of forgiveness and justification are true.  Justification is the act of declaring or making a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice. He paid our debts!

            Bring all thoughts and actions before God.

            As Adam gives his account to God about why he is hiding, God gives the wisdom of “who are you listening to? What are you basing your feelings on?”  There has been a take over in Adams life to the snake, to the fruit and ultimately to sin.   

             God tries to give Godly wisdom to Cain before he continues down the wrong path.   Because of his selfishness and pride, Cain resists God and falls into sin and tragedy.

              If Adam and Cain would have shared their thoughts with God before they were acted out, they would have left His presence with wisdom, righteousness, peace, and freedom.  God was giving them the concepts we see in 2 Corinthians 10:5.  “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”. 

Conclusion

                Our prayers Need to be as it is written in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

            We seek God’s wisdom in all things. To step outside your home without talking to God, is to be directed by your own direction and not His.

Memorize

            2 Corinthians 10:17

But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Prayer

            Jesus you are awesome. I am in awe of the revelations you show me in your word.  Your thoughts are above all that could ever contemplate.  Each time I learn of you, your love goes deeper and deeper, and your patience with me is humbling.

Jesus, I ask that you lead us into full submission to your will.  I want all that I do to glorify you.  There is no sacrifice that I can come up with that is equal to the obedience of your word.  Jesus, I ask you to forgive me from any sinful activity or thought.  I thank you for your forgiveness and I trust in your mercies which are made new each day.

            Jesus, I ask that you bless the students of Fusion.  I ask that you guide them into a fruitful and effective prayer life.  They need you as do I in all that they do.  Bless them in their efforts to bring freedom to their family, friends, and school mates.  Let your wisdom guide them and your peace go before them in all activities.

            Thank you Lord.  You are so good to me.  I love You.

Use It

·        Pray over these lessons in your own life

·        Pray a minimum of 15 minutes daily

·        Read a minimum of a chapter a day

·        Fast a meal a week

·        Memorize the weekly scripture

·        Please comment below to show that you have read our blog and are with us in prayer.